House renting problems

jimlufc

Right.....where to begin!! Me and my partner moved into a new flat on the 1st December on a 6 month tenancy. We noticed problems with the flat immediately. Mainly the heating. It is central heating but non of the radiators in the living room worked. It's a very old building with really high ceilings and massive windows so as you can expect it was very very cold!! What happened next was 3 months of constant begging to get the heating sorted. Various plumbers came out to fix the problem but never followed through with their work. During this time I was advised to hold paying rent which I did, and was also offered half rent for the period without hearing by our ever apologetic, yet useless property manager. The flat was un livable during the cold nights which usually led to us staying at my girlfriends parents house or with friends. In the 3 and a half months we've lived there we've maybe stayed 3 weeks in total.

We were away on holiday last week when our actual landlord, not properly manager (or whatever they are called) contacted me to say the heating was now fixed and she wanted her rent. Obviously explained we were away and would sort it when we got home which she wasn't happy with. We returned home yesterday to find that, yes, the heating was slightly fixed but not totally. The bedrooms are fine, but the living room is still not properly heated. 2 of the 3 radiators do not work and although it is slightly warmer in there, and the nights are getting warmer, I thought to myself "what happens come winter again."

Our landlord contacted me again this morning to say she was coming through tomorrow to collect the rent AND to show an estate agent round as she is selling all her properties!

I really don't know where we stand. Do we pay the rent and hope the next person fixes it? Do I refuse to pay until it is all fixed? Will the next person want tennents?! Can we get out of our 6 month tenancy that runs until the end of May?! To be honest there have been other problems which are yet to be fixed.
Toilet takes 4 flushes to get rid of everything!!!
Extractor fan in the bathroom doesn't work.
Loose plastering on the walls that was meant to be painted.
Main door to the building can be pushed open without using a key.

To be totally blunt, if we can get out we would. We loved the flat when we first moved in, but the constant problems have made us hate it and caused us massive stress as a couple.

Any advice would be great.

Ps (If I've waffled I apologise!!)

[Deleted User]

You haven't waffled at all.

Sorry to hear about your problems.

You could try to negotiate and early surrender with your LL if they are selling but no guarantee they will. You could call environmental health/private lettings office in your civic centre in the hope that this annoys the LL and encourages them to agree to an early surrender, but no guarantee this will happen. And if you need a good reference to move into your next place, you might not get one.

Fortunately, the end of May is not far away. You could just move out on the last day of your fixed period and vamoose into the distance, perfectly legally.

jimlufc

Thanks for your reply. I will contact them and ask if they'd be willing to let us leave early! I doubt very much they will but worth asking! Not sure what to do about this rent. It bugs me paying for something when the flat has been un livable!

Pixie5740

Who advised you to withhold your rent? You are only able to do that under certain circumstances when you've followed the correct process, otherwise you just end up in arrears.

See: What to do if your landlord refuses to do repairs?

I've lived in Aberdeen, in a granite building with high ceilings and now working radiators over winter and never did it get so cold that I had to leave the property. Yes it was cold at night but an electric blanket sorted that problem.

Your LL doesn't actually have to provide a working gas central heating system, she just has to provide a means of heating the property. I ended up using electric convection heaters. Did your LL offer to supply these or did you ask for some alternative source of heating?

You can certainly try and negotiate an early surrender but there might be quite high fees (especially if there's a LA involved) so you might be better off just leaving at the end of your fixed term.

Also note that your LL has to give you 24 hours written notice before entering your home. Even then you don't necessarily have to allow access for her, or someone working for her such as an estate agent, in to your home. Check what your tenancy agreement says about allowing access.

jimlufc

it was a friend of mine who is a landlord himself who advised me. We asked for alternative heating but were never given any. In bed under 2 duvets was fine, but the living room was too cold to stay in. You could actually see your own breath! We didn't want to come home from work and go straight to bed at 6pm. Thanks for your advice though. I've contacted my landlord and asked if they would be willing to let us leave early.

jimlufc

A little update and hopefully further help needed!!

I contacted our landlord on the 21st of March and asked if in light of everything we could give a months notice which thankfully she agreed. I paid our last rent at the beginning of this month up until the 21st but apparently now we are short with rent. Basically we were offered half rent in January until the heating was fixed. The heating was, according to them, fixed on the 15th March. Our landlord rang me on the 16th to ask for the extra rent now the heating was fixed which was around £305. I explained that upon moving in we had paid our first months rent in full but had no heating from the day we moved in. She accepted this as the extra money for March. Stupidly I got no written confirmation of this, and as I didn't hear anymore about it for a few weeks, and her accepting this on the phone I thought this was sorted. Apparently not now. She is now demanding the extra money and I have refused to pay. In the morning she is apparently going to court to start proceedings against me for the full 6 months full rent of £610 a month. What can I do next? I have contacted her to ask why she has gone back on our verbal agreement but she is not replying to me. I have an email from her from 2 days ago demanding the extra money, but in it she confirms she accepted us leaving early and also the half rent, but says that starts from when it was offered in January. Does she have a case for the full 6 months rent at full money despite her admitting in the emails what's we were offered?

Thanks in advance.

somethingcorporate

Contact Shelter (probably don't talk to your LL "mate" again because he doesn't have a clue what he is talking about).

jimlufc

The point regarding my friend is irrelevant now. After advice from here we caught up on what we'd held. The half rent offer was from our actual landlord and not a recommendation from my friend.

dimbo61

Keep the emails and print them off.
If she does take you to court just produce them on the day.
You had a 6 month AST which started on the 1-12-2014 so you can move out the end of May

jimlufc

Thanks. Yes that's true. But on the 21st March she accepted our months notice which took us to the 21st April which is of course early. She was happy with this at the time. The emails from her say that she accepted it, but now wants the full rent, plus the extra half we would have paid every month if the flat was heated, until the end of May.

dancingfairy

It could go either way to be honest, basically you either pay up now and just get out of there and be glad to be gone, or you wait and see whether she wants to take it to court. I honestly don't know which way a judge would rule, it depends on whether they think an agreement was made for you to pay half rent.
Worst case scenario is that you end up being told to pay up and possibly court costs of approx £80? Each side would bear there own costs and can (and would) be expected to represent themselves in court.
You obviously need to weigh up the hassle involved and whether you think you would win if it ever went to court (or even whether the landlord would bother). If they are selling they may not be bothered?
df